Watford's break will benefit players, according to head coach Walter Mazzarri

Watford head coach Walter Mazzarri believes his side's break will stand them in good stead.

The Hornets' exit from the FA Cup, at the hands of League One club Millwall, together with Chelsea's progression and the forthcoming international break, means that Mazzarri's men will play only two matches during March.

Watford began the month with a 4-3 home defeat to Southampton and play Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Saturday.

The Italian thinks the break will be beneficial to his players and help Watford approach the remaining 11 Premier League matches with the right mentality - something Mazzarri feels has not always been the case this season.

"It is not often that you only have two games in such a long period and these 15 days have only been a benefit for us," he said.

"We have improved some of the details and the small things that we needed to improve, which is important for the future and the remaining games.

"I want to make them understand the mentality they need every game and I think in the past fortnight, it helped because we had the whole group together and we were able to speak about this.

"We have 11 games left and I think the team will produce the performances I want in these 11 games."